One of the most important treasures of Puebla City is Palafox Library. His story begins on September 5, 1646, when the then bishop, Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, donated his personal library of 5000 volumes to the schools of San Pedro and San Juan, on the condition that he be allowed access to anyone who could read, not just members of the church and seminary, which is why the Palafox Library is considered the first public library in America.

Donations of bishops after Palafox and books confiscated from the Jesuits after their expulsion, that the stock did grow as necessary to create a space that would protect all those books. So for 1773 the library opened at the place where you can meet her. At that time had only two levels of shelving and the altarpiece of the Madonna of Trapani, who can still see the bottom of the library. It was not until the nineteenth century when they built the third level.

In the great door of the library, are the arms of the Marquis de Ariza, in memory of the noble title that was Juan de Palafox Palafox Library of his father Don Jaime Palafox and Rebolledo, Marquis of Ariza, and the shield as Bishop Palafox Puebla de los Angeles. Inside is a wooden wheel called lectern, allowing readers to consult several books at once without placing them on a table.

In the center of the library tables and benches were smashed, furniture donated to the early eighteenth century and is an extraordinary example of carpentry Puebla at the time. At the bottom of the library the golden altar frames the painting "Madonna of Trapani," below which reads the phrase Sapientia Maria headquarters, which translates as Mary Seat of Wisdom, crowned by a painting of Saint Thomas.

From here you can read the labels found on the shelf, placed to identify areas in which the books were classified.

Currently, the Palafox Library, besides being the first public library of the continent, is recognized as the only old in America than in its original building still has its furniture, shelving and, above all, his collection now consists of 42 , 556 and 5 volumes, 345 manuscripts, being the oldest book "The Twelve Books of History of Herodotus", printed in Venice in 1473.

For UNESCO recognized this, in July 2005, the Library Palafoxiana as Memory of the World "program established in 1992 to encourage nations to preserve their historically valuable records, ensuring their dissemination to new generations.